Dispatch communications at Illinois State Police District 8 to consolidate with three districts in Pontiac

METAMORA — Dispatch communications at the Illinois State Police District 8 building in Metamora will close in the coming months to consolidate with three other districts in Pontiac.

The consolidation is part of a multi-phase effort that began in July 2012 to enhance efficiency for all state police districts in Illinois, said Illinois State Police spokeswoman Monique Bond. In the wake of budgetary constraints and a technology upgrade aimed at officer safety, combining communication centers — beginning with consolidations to DuQuoin and Springfield in 2012 — completes the revamping, Bond said.

District 8 in Metamora, District 10 in Pesotum and District 21 in Ashkum will move to the Pontiac Communication Center at an unspecified date “in the coming months,” said Bond. The dispatch center in Pontiac will handle emergency calls to the State Police for all four of those districts in a new streamlined system. The four dispatchers working for District 8 were offered jobs at the Pontiac location, according to Bond, and have the choice to transfer there, commute or select other unspecified options provided to them by the agency. About 24 dispatchers are expected to work at Pontiac at the end of the consolidation.

The transfers and ensuing training will occur on a rotational basis to ensure no interruption of service. Bond said the state police’s first choice would be for all the current dispatchers in the dissolved districts to transfer to the new center and maintain consistent coverage of those districts.

State Rep. David Leitch, R-Peoria, whose constituency encompasses all of Metamora, said he has been assured the dispatchers in District 8 will be protected and have an opportunity at employment in Pontiac. As far as the new communication, Leitch wants to the take the wait-and-see approach.

“I think we just need to see how well it works,” Leitch said. “It’s a very high level of technology that will make it better for the officers. From our standpoint, we’ll see if it works better. I have no reason to believe it won’t.”